Marcaim locals protest, want ferry service woes solved
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, OCT 12
Unhappy with ferry services along the Marcaim-Cortalim route, residents of Marcaim on Tuesday disrupted ferry service for over two hours demanding to solve the problems faced by commuters.
Villagers have claimed that two ferryboats are insufficient and that sudden breakdown of one of the ferry has put undue pressure on the lone ferry boat. However, soon after villagers protested, another ferry was pressed into service. Ponda Police rushed to the site and brought the situation under control.
Villagers further claimed that during rush hours, two-wheelers forcibly enter the ferry leaving no space for four-wheelers. Villagers also demanded to deploy a policeman to control the traffic during rush hour.
“Every day, we are facing problem due to insufficient ferry. There has to be atleast three ferry boats during rush hours, as most of the time vehicles are stranded for hours. Authorities should act fast to solve this problem,” said Olav Aguiar, a villager.
“To make matters worse, one of the ferries broke down a couple of days ago, but authorities were least bothered. We contacted the River Navigation Department, but couldn’t get satisfactory answers,” said Aguiar.
“There is also a need to deploy policemen during rush hour to control errant two-wheelers,” he added.
